


Finding A Family

by blueboxesandtrafficcones



Series: 31 Days of Ficmas 2017 [14]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode AU: s04e06 The Doctor's Daughter, F/M, Gen, Reunion Fic, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 07:26:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13072035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueboxesandtrafficcones/pseuds/blueboxesandtrafficcones
Summary: While trying to stop the war between Human and Hath, the Doctor gains a daughter he never wanted - and more.





	Finding A Family

**Author's Note:**

> I'm running quite a bit behind, but this is Day 14 of 31 Days of Ficmas! Word of the day was - family.

Waking up to find herself on the wrong side of the collapsed wall from the Doctor and Donna, Martha couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the situation.  Even though she knew logically it wasn’t the Doctor’s fault, she couldn’t help but blame him just a little.

Spotting the injured alien lying beside her, Martha forgot about the Doctor and became Doctor Jones.  “I’ve got you,” she soothed her patient, carefully inspecting his shoulder.

Twenty minutes later, she’d made friends with the Hath and been taken to headquarters.  When the overlay appeared on the map and the rest of the army marched off, she and her new friend started heading for the surface to try to stop all hell from breaking lose even further.

Only when she turned the final corner to the staircase, there was a blonde woman already halfway up the steps.

“Hey!”  Martha called, and the woman spun around.

“Hello,” she said cautiously; both women held up their hands in peace.

Martha slowly made her way up the steps to greet her.  “Hang on – are you Jenny?”  She hadn’t had much of a chance to look at the girl from the machine before the explosion, and though the clothing wasn’t right she did looked very similar.  Though, hadn’t the Doctor said the girl was with him?

“No.  Who’s Jenny?”  The woman stared back, equally curious.  “And who’re you, anyway?”

“Jenny came out of the machine.  She was born, sort of, from a friend of mine.  Or at least, a tissue sample,” Martha explained.

“Oh.  No, I’m human,” the other woman reassured her before frowning.  “What do you mean born from a tissue sample and a machine?”

“The humans here, they have this machine where they stick your hand in, take a tissue sample, and create a person from it in seconds.”

“Ah.”  The woman shifted uncomfortably, before holding up her hand.  Still an angry red, it was the same mark the Doctor had.  “Like this?”

“Yes!”  Martha exclaimed.  “Did they make a new soldier from you as well?”

“Don’t think so,” she replied practically.  “They stuck my hand in the thing and took the sample, I suppose, but then the machine let me go without doing anything.  I took the chance to run.”

“So you’re not with them?”

The woman shook her head.

“Right.  When was this?”

She tilted her head in thought.  “Thirty, forty-five minutes ago?”

Martha stared, calculating in her head.  “Well, that confirms it.  I think your tissue sample got mixed with my friend’s; the girl looks a hell of a lot like you and nothing like him.”

“Oh, my mother’ll love that,” the woman sighed, rolling her eyes.  “Though a grandchild’s a grandchild, I suppose.  Not like she hasn’t already accepted any she’d get from me would be alien.”

Martha grinned.  “I’m actually on my way to meet up with them – would you care to join me?”

The Hath behind her gurgled, and Martha rolled her eyes at its sudden bravery.  “Correction, would you like to join _us_?”

“Sure, beats being on my own.  I’m – Marion.”

“Martha.”

The woman grinned.  “Fantastic.”

-

Stumbling down the steps together they moved slowly, still shocked by the Hath’s sacrifice.  Marion had fallen into a crater, almost drowning; the alien had jumped in and pushed her up far enough that Martha could pull her out, but they were unable to save him before he went under.

As they came around the corner, Martha almost collapsed in relief.  “Doctor!”

“Martha!”  He crowed, and they threw themselves into each others arms, hugging tightly.  He spun her slightly before setting her down to introduce her.  “Martha, my daughter Jenny.  Jenny, Martha.”

Martha stepped forward to hug Donna and Jenny, before spinning around.  “Oh!  I picked up a companion as well,” she explained, seeing Marion waiting in the darkness; she was staring at the Doctor, mouth open.

“Oh really?  Who?”  The Doctor asked, brow furrowing.

“Technically, Jenny’s mum.  They tried to process her just before we arrived, only there was a fault in the machine and it let her go.”

“That’s no guarantee-” he started, but Martha talked over him.

“Trust me, Jenny’s her spitting image.  They’re definitely related.”

“Ah.” 

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck while Donna smirked.  “Oh, I’d love to see that custody battle.”

Martha gestured for Marion to step forward into the light.  The woman did, speaking softly.

“I think we’ll be able to work something out.”

Martha was looking at the Doctor when Marion spoke; she saw him freeze, mouth falling open.  He blinked slowly several times; his mouth moved, but no sound came out.  Marion stepped forward further, fully into the light.

“Bloody hell,” Donna breathed, looking between the two blondes as she took in the resemblance.

Martha, Donna, and Jenny all stared at the Doctor and the woman, waiting for one of them to speak, feeling somehow as though they were intruding on a private moment.

Finally, Marion was the one to break the silence.  “Doctor?”

His eyes closed, and his lower lip trembled.  “If this isn’t real…” he warned, the Oncoming Storm warring with a terrible grief.

“Doctor,” she repeated softly, moving to stand in front of him.

When his eyes opened his companions gasped, seeing the unusual display of emotion.  Martha and Donna exchanged looks, both understanding who this woman was.

“Rose,” The Doctor breathed, looking down at Marion – _Rose_ – in awe.

“Hi honey, I’m home,” she giggled, throwing her arms around him as he swept her up, holding her much tighter than he had Martha just moments before.

“You’re late.  I was expecting you ages ago,” he joked weakly, swaying with her in his arms, her toes barely brushing the ground.

“Sorry, traffic was awful,” she laughed, tears falling.

“I don’t understand,” Jenny muttered, and Donna and Martha looked at each other, not wanting to explain.

Before her parents could explain the sound of the human army breaking through echoed up to them.

“That’s the general, we haven’t got much time,” the Doctor winced, placing Rose on the ground and taking her hand.

“But we don’t even know what we’re looking for,” Donna reminded him, and Martha sniffed the air.

“Is it me, or do you smell flowers?”

“Yes!  Bougainvillea,” he breathed, understanding lighting his face.  “Allons-y!”  He took off, pulling Rose behind him.  Laughing, it only took her a few steps to fall into sync as though no time had passed.

The couple raced off together, Martha, Donna, and Jenny trailing behind.  They burst into a luscious garden, and the Doctor followed his nose straight to a glowing sphere in the middle of the room.  He looked around in awe, his hand still clutching tightly to Rose as though afraid she’d disappear if he let go.

“What is it?”  Rose asked, staring at the swirling colors inside the glass.

“Terraforming.  It’s…” he inspected it quickly.  “A third generation terraforming device.”

 “So why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?”  Donna wanted to know, and he shrugged.

“That’s what it does – like earlier, with Luke and the Sontarans.  Makes the planet habitable for the designated species.  In this case, human and Hath.  It’s in a transit state-” he started to explain, still taking it all in, but was cut off by both armies arriving in the clearing at the same time.

“Stop!”  He cried, letting go of Rose’s hand to step forward, throwing out his hands.  “Hold your fire!”

Guns cocked on both sides, humans and Hath taking careful aim at each other.

“What is this, some kind of trap?”  Cobb accused, gun trained steadily on the Doctor.

“You said you wanted this war over,” the Doctor reminded him.

“I said I wanted this war one!”  He cried.

“You can't win. No one can. You don't even know why you're here. Your whole history, it's just Chinese whispers. Getting more distorted the more it's passed on,” the Doctor explained desperately, trying to keep the peace.  He pointed to the sphere.  “This is the Source.  This is what you're fighting over.  A device to rejuvenate a planet's ecosystem.  It's nothing mystical.  It's from a laboratory, not some creator.  It's a bubble of gases, a cocktail of stuff for accelerated evolution.  Methane, hydrogen, ammonia, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids. It's used to make barren planets habitable.  Look around you!  It's not for killing, it's bringing life.  If you allow it, it can lift you out of these dark tunnels and into the bright, bright sunlight!  No more fighting.  No more killing.”

Lifting the sphere with both hands, he shouted, “I’m the Doctor, and I declare this war over!”  He threw it to the ground where the glass shattered and the gasses escaped, swirling up and around before heading off to do their job as both sides looked on with amazement, laying down their weapons.

All but one.

The Doctor turned to Rose and Jenny, who hurried up to him.

“What’s happening?”  Their daughter asked breathlessly, and he beamed down at her.  He may have struggled to accept her as his own, but knowing that she was part Rose as well sealed her in his hearts.

“The gases will escape and trigger the terraforming process,” he quietly explained, eager to teach her about the universe.

“What does that mean?”  Rose asked, smiling up at him as she relished his presence.

“It means a new world,” he told his girls, certain he’d never been happier.

Jenny gave a giggle, and happened to glance over in time to see Cobb raise his pistol.

Reacting on instinct, she cried “No!” as stepped in front of her father.

The gun fired, and Jenny was yanked back as Rose stepped forward.

The bullet hit her straight in the chest and she gasped in pain, one hand immediately coming up to the wound.

“Rose!”  The Doctor cried in a panic, catching her as she collapsed.

“Ow,” she muttered, dimly aware of the soldiers forcing Cobb to his knees, focusing instead on her partner.

“Rose?  Rose!  Talk to me, love,” the Doctor begged, laying her down flat as he applied pressure to the wound.

“Long time no see,” she joked weakly, feeling herself fading fast.  She could hear Donna and Martha mutter to each other, but paid them no attention.

“Yeah, been busy.  Rose, please don’t die,” he begged, but she knew it was futile, could feel it in her bones.

“I love you,” she told him firmly, one hand coming up to rest on his.  “And I’m so glad I got to see you again.”

“This isn’t it, Rose, it’s not.”  He wasn’t ashamed of the tears falling down his eyes as he pleaded with her, with the Universe itself.

“Jenny?”

“I’m here.  Mum.”  The girl sniffled, cuddling up next to her side.

“Mum.  Like that,” Rose muttered.  “Love you.”  She tried to focus on the girl’s face, but it swam in and out of focus.  “Love you both.”

“Love you too,” Jenny whispered.

“Love, don’t leave me,” the Doctor begged, furious with himself for not being able to say the words even at this moment, his last chance.

Rose’s lip twitched up just before the light in her eye dimmed, and her heart beneath his fingers stopped.

“No.  No.  NO!”  The Doctor roared, rising up and stalking over the general, grabbing the pistol from the ground and aiming between the man’s eyes.

“Dad,” Jenny called softly, but he ignored her.

“You took her from me,” his voice shook with rage, though his hand was steady.  “You _took_ her.”

Cobb stared resolutely up at him, resigned to his fate but still unapologetic.

The Doctor cocked the gun.

“Dad,” his daughter called again, a different tone to her voice, but he paid her no mind.

A small, logical part of his mind said killing Cobb wouldn’t make up for losing Rose at Canary Wharf, but the dark voice always inside his head suggested he find out for sure.

But he could hear Rose in his head, could hear her talking him down, and he slowly lowered the gun, arm shaking with effort.

“I never would,” he told Cobb.  “Have you got that?  I never would!”

He turned to the Hath, looking between them and the humans as he commanded, “When you start this new world.  This world of Human and Hath... remember that!  Make the foundation of this society a man who never would!”

Throwing the gun away in disgust he walked back to Rose’s body, sinking to the ground on the other side of her from Jenny.

If he stared hard enough he could almost pretend her chest was moving, that she was breathing.  He reached out one trembling finger to trace her features before bringing both hands to his face, sobbing for her as he had never allowed himself to before, his final hope extinguished.

“Dad!”  Jenny’s impatient hiss made him look up at her.

“What?”  He didn’t mean to snap, but she didn’t seem offended as she just smirked at him.  “What?”  He repeated through gritted teeth when she didn’t answer.

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry before.”

Blinking at the voice he never expected to hear again, he looked down to see Rose grinning up at him.

“What?”  He could only stare, dumbfounded, sure he’d finally gone off the deep end.  “You’re dead.”

She waved at him.  “Actually, I’m Rose.”

He shook his head.  “You’re dead.  Rose, you died in my arms.”

“Yep.”  She popped the word like he always did.  “Then I got better.”

He didn’t laugh like she obviously expected.

“Rose…”

She sighed, sitting up with a wince.  A quick glance told her that the Hath and humans had let them have their privacy to grieve.

“Ugh, I’m never gonna get the blood out of this shirt,” she muttered, pulling the sticky wet material away from her.

“Rose!”

She looked over at him, taking in the tear tracks on his face and reaching up to wipe them away with her clean hand.  “Yes, I died.  And when I was dead, I could hear it – I could hear _her_.  The TARDIS.  She told me to wake up.  So I did.”

“Just like that?”  He asked in disbelief.

She bit her lip.  “I also heard a wolf howl.  I… Doctor, I think it had something to do with Bad Wolf.”

Just when he thought nothing more could surprise him, something always did.  “Bad Wolf?  But I thought that was done?”

Rose shrugged.  “Apparently not.”

“Right.”

They just stared at each other until Jenny got impatient.

“What happens now?”

“Back to the TARDIS,” the Doctor decided, rising and helping his girls to their feet.  “We’ll figure it out from there.”

Still weak, Rose leaned on him the whole way though she focused her attention on getting to know Jenny, leaving him free to ponder his family.

His _family_.

With a sudden jolt, he realized that for the first time since he’d left Susan behind, he had a true family made of blood.

Certainly each companion became family while they traveled with him, and stayed that way for the rest of their lives whether they saw him again or not.

But this was blood.

Blood that wanted him, as is.  With the running, and the saving, and the travelling.

He had a family again.

Despite his earlier words to Donna, he knew he’d do whatever it took to keep them safe and with him.

He wouldn’t fail them this time.

His _family_.

Make the TARDIS had known where she was going after all.


End file.
